


breathe life into the dead

by Vitamin



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Ghosts, Haunting, M/M, Male Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), drk quest spoilers but you could probably guess that, wol is just mentioned not present
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22659346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vitamin/pseuds/Vitamin
Summary: fray visits sid three times after he dies.
Relationships: Fray Myste/Sidurgu Orl
Comments: 5
Kudos: 70





	breathe life into the dead

**Author's Note:**

> title from the 65 job quest: the orphans and the broken blade

The worst part of Fray dying is that he won’t leave Sidurgu _alone_ after he does so.

It was bad enough that Sid and Rielle weren’t there when it happened. Fray had insisted the two leave the city for the highlands when the Temple Knights began straying a bit too close to their veritable shack in the Brume for comfort. Of course, when the two returned a week later, it was to the news that Fray had been captured, sentenced to trial by combat for supposed heresy, and killed. Apparently no one had even managed to find his body, despite those who were able to watch the trial swearing that he’d been carted back to the Brume.

Part of Sid wishes he could bring the bastard back just so he could off himself for leaving him alone like this.

He can’t mourn him properly. He still has Rielle to worry about, the Temple Knights hounding their every step, and not to mention the thousands of other injustices occurring in Ishgard that he is duty bound to right. Every night when he’s laying in his too small cot in his now too quiet room, he counts his breaths and tries to imagine another body breathing in the bed across the room from him.

With each passing night, it gets harder to do so.

* * *

A month after Fray’s death, he returns.

Sid is returning home from a hunt, Deathbringer bloodied and his armor slightly dented, before returning to the Forgotten Knight to see Rielle. Gibrillont is magnanimous enough to let Rielle stay in one of his rooms when Sid has business outside the city, keeping a careful eye on her and signalling to her to hide whenever a Temple Knight walks in as long as she helps with bringing people their drinks. Rielle doesn’t complain, but she doesn’t say much of anything anymore. While she was never the most talkative child that Sid has ever known, it’s only gotten worse since Fray’s demise.

The dark knight tries not to dwell too much on his failings when both their lives hang in the balance.

Fray is sitting at the kitchen table when Sid enters the house. His helmet is off, but the rest of his armor is still on. His elbow is propped up on the table, his hand cradling his chin as he stares directly in front of him. He doesn’t move when Sid shuts the door behind him.

“What in the _seven hells_ …?” Sid says, disbelief dripping from every word. Fray still doesn’t move, doesn’t even acknowledge him. He’s not sure what the fuck is going on. Fray’s body was never found, sure, but people _saw_ the man die. People Sid _knows_ wouldn’t lie about such a thing.

He takes one step forward, then another. He’s reaching out to grab Fray’s shoulder when the other man’s gaze finally shifts over to him.

Sid stops.

Fray’s eyes are completely black. No gold, no white, no light to them.

Sid blinks, opening his mouth to say something—

Fray is gone.

* * *

Rielle watches him as they walk back home.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she says, quietly. He stops. She continues on for a few more paces before realizing he’s stopped. The girl turns to face him, her usually impassive expression turned into one of concern.

“I… I think I might have.”

* * *

He doesn’t return for another week, and when he does, it’s in the middle of the night. Sid wakes up abruptly, sucking in a sharp breath. His dreams haven’t exactly been pleasant recently. Memories of his parents being struck down in front of him, conjured images of Fray’s last moments, always revolving around death. He cracks his eyes open.

Fray is standing over him.

Sid stays silent this time. He just watches the other man.

The moon casts light through the room’s single window. It catches the side of Fray’s face. His eyes are still black, but his expression is…

Sid would say it’s almost gentle.

Slight movement out of the corner of his eye catches Sid’s attention. Fray is moving a hand up towards the Xaela’s face. His gauntlets are off, skin bare. Sid can see the numerous scars from a life as a Brume orphan, the training that Ser Ompagne put the both of them through. They’re hands that Sid knows almost as well as his own. Hands that he misses so desperately.

He can’t feel them when Fray finally brushes his fingers along Sid’s cheekbones. No texture of skin, just cold, cold, _cold_.

Sid can’t help but to let out a quiet gasp at the sensation. Fray pulls away instantly, and before Sid can manage to get out a desperate “wait, no, _Fray_ ”, he’s gone.

He’s left alone again.

* * *

Rumors began to spread shortly after that night. Tales of a man dressed in Fray’s armor, hovering near the stairway entrance of the Brume. He never acknowledges anyone, just stands there like he’s waiting for something.

Sid hates that his first thought is _good, at least he’s not just haunting me_.

* * *

The next time he awakens in the middle of the night, it’s not to Fray. Rather, it’s to Rielle shaking his shoulder. He immediately tenses and sits up, already reaching for Deathbringer.

“It’s not the Temple Knights,” she says. He relaxes slightly, but watches her with a wary eye. Her face is mostly neutral, but there’s an intensity to her gaze that he hasn’t seen since her conjury lessons with Fray. It’s hard to believe Fray’s been dead for almost two months now. Dead… but not gone, not entirely. “Tell me about Fray. Anything about him.”

“You want me to… tell you about him?” Sid questions. He’s still trying to shake the grip of sleep off his mind. “Why?”

Rielle swallows, finally looking away from Sid as she does so. He immediately feels like a bit of a jerk. He usually ends up feeling like a jerk when he tries to actually talk to Rielle, so he’s been avoiding it. Fray was always better at connecting with her.

“I… the dead live on in our memories. If you talk about him, it’s like he’s not gone,” she murmurs. She looks up abruptly, frowning. “You haven’t since that day.”

Sid looks at her. He tries to say something, opens his mouth to respond, but no words come. What can he tell her? 

About the day they met, how Sid had shyly offered his condolences about Fray’s friend as the two of them trailed behind Ompange, how Fray had just stared at him with his golden eyes like he wasn’t even there?

Or their first training session after they made the decision to walk the path, how Sid had collapsed once they were finished, how Fray was the one to carry him back home without so much as a single complaint?

Perhaps the first time Fray had called Sid his friend shortly after his seventeenth nameday, how Sid had felt his heart skip a bit and realized perhaps friendship wasn’t _all_ he wanted from Fray, how Fray had snorted immediately afterwards and told him to stop gaping at him.

“Fray was better than me,” is what he finally decides upon. “He was better than me, and he died to keep us safe.”

* * *

He sees Fray once more before Whitebrim.

Sid’s cleaning his armor in the middle of the night, having spent several hours attempting to sleep in vain and tossing and turning. He sits on the edge of his bed, lost in the well practiced monotony of his actions, when Fray sits down next to him. Sid startles, nearly dropping the gauntlet he was working on. The other man didn’t make a single sound during his approach, even with his armor on.

“I’m sorry,” Fray says. His words are quiet, almost too faint to hear. “I’m sorry, I don’t have much time left.”

“Are… are you real?” Sid asks. He’s honestly too stunned that this apparition of Fray is finally speaking to think of anything else to say.

“I think I know why I’m still here,” he doesn’t acknowledge Sid’s words, which isn’t quite uncommon for the Hyur. It’s almost a relief, these old habits. “You and I, we didn’t do something important, and now I’m stuck between you two.”

“Fray, what are you talking about? What do you mean ‘two?’” he pushes. Fray simply shakes his head.

“You’ll figure it out soon enough. Hopefully, at any rate. You were always pretty dense, Sidurgu.”

Sid can’t help but to let out a disbelieving laugh. Fray is still giving him shit, even after he died. Figures. Fray turns to face him, and this time his eyes aren’t black. They’re their customary gold.

“Sid,” Fray says.

“I love you,” he blurts out, unable to hold the words back. He never told Fray when he was _really_ here, so he might as well now. “I loved you. More than I have ever loved myself.”

Fray doesn’t respond. His eyes fall shut, and he smiles one of those smiles that Sid always did his best to commit to memory. A smile that actually seemed… content.

The Xaela feels something cold brush against his lips.

“Take care of yourself, Sidurgu. And him. I think you’ll like him, he’s almost as dense as you.”

**Author's Note:**

> listen i just got an itch to write some kind of sad fraysid okay? 
> 
> was thinking about continuing this to be sid/wol but wasn't sure if people would be interested in that. i guess leave a comment if that sounds up your alley?
> 
> twit is [here](https://twitter.com/seatofsacrifice) if you wanna talk about dark knight stuff! please talk to me about dark knight stuff holy shit i love it so much


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